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Here's another example ... A good friend of mine is a very highly skilled engineer who works for a local company specialising in engineering weighing and measuring machines (the sort of eye wateringly expensive, high end advanced "spatially aware" kit that can tell you if an atom on a gnats cock is out of true). He has often tried to explain to me how it works over a few pints, but a dumb *** like me can only follow him to the end of the first sentence....
Anyway I digress, this kit is sold worldwide and to all branched of the MOD, well it was, these days very little high end kit is purchased by the MOD and most goes to outside contractors who are contracted by the MOD, to "save money"
Here's a great example of "saving money" relayed to me a few years ago by my mate. Apparently when (Tornado GR4's I think it was), went for major overhaul, the radar units would be removed first and sent back to the manufacturers for repair and upgrade. The radar would be replaced by a special bolt in ballasted weight, so the aircraft could be flown to its destination.
Well, the Company that makes them used to work closely with the RAF on delivery. Not any more, today they get an email from some overweight bureaucrat at the MOD and that's it. Once they had an order for 12 units (£££££ cost to the tax payer), they were never collected, just sat gathering dust. No one at the MOD was interested ... then they received an order for 12 more, well looking in the warehouse, they tried informing the MOD that they already had 12 gathering dust and waiting to be picked up ... Not my problem said the disinterested bureaucrat, just make us 12 more please...!
This is typical of the stories he has told me over the years and is just one more symptom regarding the front line being disconnected from its trade and industry partners and having its own logistics and engineering branches run down ... he has many more tales of woe unfortunately
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10-28-2016 01:00 PM
# ADS
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And meanwhile, the squaddies are being told there are big ('cost saving') changes coming for Defence Housing.
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.......................................and thats why Withams : Direct Sales - MOD Sales, Military Vehicles & Used Ex MOD Land Rovers for Sale
get so much brand new kit to sell for a portion of its true cost, which does truly show those making the decisions these days are well out of touch.
If I had done that, I would have been hauled over the coals. Heyho good job Douglas Bader and the lads of 70 years ago, were kept flying by passionate designers and men who built stuff that we are so very proud of today and what they did for us............."Never was so much owed by so many to so few"
'Tonight my men and I have been through hell and back again, but the look on your faces when we let you out of the hall - we'd do it all again tomorrow.' Major Chris Keeble's words to Goose Green villagers on 29th May 1982 - 2 PARA
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Thank You to Gil Boyd For This Useful Post:
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The Following 3 Members Say Thank You to Bob Womack For This Useful Post:
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Yes that was a clanger Bob, also the one where he was at high altitude and all of a sudden he heard popping which scared the hell out of him as he could not figure out was he being attacked or what the bl**dy hell is wrong with the aircraft when he had descended rather rapidly to a lower altitude the popping stopped.
It was then he had a light bulb moment the popping was from the ping pong balls he had in his tin legs at the high altitude their internal pressure from being made a sea level caused them to expand and burst the ping pong balls. He had them in his legs as if he was shot down into the channel he did not want to be dragged down by the weight of his legs filling with water.
Here is another great book to read about another British Legless pilot who flew in WWII.
Last edited by CINDERS; 10-30-2016 at 10:04 AM.
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Thank You to CINDERS For This Useful Post:
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Originally Posted by
Gil Boyd
Don't get me started.....................a woman I know is proud to serve the RAF by being the person who travels the world scrounging parts for VC10's unbelievable.
I have too many tales to tell like that, as does Peter L and others who were at the sharp end of these dangerous and unecessary cuts.
Sadly the queen of the skies was retired a few years ago along with the L1011 Tristar and replaced with the Voyager. That is a nice aircraft but because it's new, the crews are very precious! There are some costly contractual cock ups to this story too!
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VC10? British Airways, a long, long (overnight) flight and a fond memory from decades ago.
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The VC10 gave me one one of the biggest confused moments of my life. Getting on a RAF VC10 tanker in Cyprus, I sat down and looked out of the window to see the wing was fitted back to front! It never crossed my mind that I was sat down facing backwards.
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The Following 2 Members Say Thank You to Brit plumber For This Useful Post:
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Mate, I had to laugh, even though I spent a lot of being hauled places aboard military aircraft whilst facing left to right, right to left or bum end forward.
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As a U.K tax payer, one aspect which I don't like about the MOD's use of the Voyager aircraft is that, if I understand it correctly, the MOD, don't actually own the the aircraft; it is on long-term lease from a private company. I have to question whether it would have been more cost effective for the U.K. government to purchase the aircraft outright.
Last edited by Flying10uk; 11-21-2016 at 03:53 AM.
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